Following the initial trial, Airtel plans to conduct a similar test run in Mumbai in the coming days.
Bharti Airtel has launched its 5G trial network in Gurugram, just over a month after the government authorised telecom operators in India to conduct trials on next-generation cellular network technology, according to Gadgets 360. The telco provides its 5G network at a maximum speed of more than 1Gbps. The trial is currently taking place at a site that operates in the 3500MHz band. Airtel demonstrated its 5G network earlier this year, using liberalised spectrum in the 1800MHz band.
According to a source familiar with the development, the 5G trial network is now operational in Gurugram's Cyber Hub. Airtel is conducting the test in collaboration with Swedish equipment manufacturer Ericsson.
Following the initial trial, Airtel intends to conduct a similar test run in Mumbai in the coming days, according to Gadgets 360.
During the trial, Airtel is delivering its 5G network at speeds of more than 1Gbps. This is significantly faster than what consumers typically receive on the country's 4G network.
According to Ookla, India is ranked 130 in the world in terms of mobile Internet speeds, with an average download speed of 12.81Mbps and an upload speed of 4.79Mbps.
Airtel customers will not be able to experience the 5G network during the trial for the time being, even if they have a compatible smartphone, because the government's rules prohibit testing with end users. The devices used by operators for such trials also necessitate special software updates from their manufacturers in order to test the network prior to its public launch.
The government authorised telecom operators such as Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea to begin anticipated 5G trials in the country with equipment manufacturers Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung in May. Airtel has been granted 5G trial spectrum in the 3500MHz, 28GHz, and 700MHz bands in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru.
Unlike Airtel, Jio, the country's largest telecom operator by user base, has yet to conduct formal 5G trials in the country. Last year, the Mumbai-based operator promised to conduct large-scale 5G testing in collaboration with Qualcomm. It is also collaborating with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to prepare its telecom equipment for the country's 5G network.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, revealed in December that Jio would launch 5G services as early as the second half of 2021.
Airtel claimed in January that it was the country's first telco to successfully demonstrate its 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad. The operator stated that the demonstration was carried out using liberalised spectrum in the 1800MHz band via Non-Standalone (NSA) network technology.